Karzai Invites Taliban Over

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai announced at a press conference in Islamabad that a few hundred Taliban fighters have reconciled with the government. He also suggested that the Taliban’s leader Mullah Omar should “get in touch” if he wanted to talk peace. This comes in the wake of a recent escalation in violence in the war-torn country. Karzai says that he expects suicide attacks to continue in his country “for a long time.” But he believes that the Taliban’s resistance is starting to fade.

In fact, Karzai said that a booming drug trade is Afghanistan’s greatest problem, not terrorism. Speaking to reporters, Karzai said that terrorism has been “relegated to little more than a nuisance” when compared to the drug problem. Afghanistan is currently the world leader in opium production.

Will the Taliban’s Mullah Omar accept Karzai’s invitation of one-on-one peace talks? “I don’t think he will come,” said Karzai. “He has so much on his hands against Afghanistan. We don’t even know as to where he is hiding. He has to first give us an account as to what he’s done.” (source)